Caster.



ANNIE F, W. BOWEN, OF SAN FRANCISCO, CALIFORNIA.

' cAs'rER.

Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented Sept. 29, 1908.

Application filed August 21, 1905, Serial No. 274,979. Renewed March 7, 1908. .Serial No. 419,765.

T 0 all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, ANNIE F. W. BOWEN, a citizen of the United States, residing at San Francisco, in the county of San Francisco and State of California, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Casters, of which the following is a specification.

This invention relates to an improvement in casters, the object of the invention being to rovide an improved form of caster which will run'more freely and with less friction than those heretofore used, in which the parts will be held securely in place, which will be more compact and less liable to breakage and collection of dust, and which can be used to support very heavy articles as well as light ones.

In the accompanying drawing, Figure l is a vertical section of the caster; Fig.2 is a cross section on the line 22 of Fig. 1, looking in the direction of the arrow; Fig. 3 is a cross section on theline 33 of Fig. 1 looking in the direction of the arrow; Fig. 4 is a side elevation showing a modified form of caster; Fig. 5 shows a further modification.

Referring to the drawing, 1 indicates the article to which the caster is a plied, which may be any one of the articlbs for which casters are used, as, for instance, a piano leg, table leg, truck, stoves, safes or the like. 2 indicates the body of the caster which is provided with a circular flange 3 secured to the article by screws 4 and with a cylindrical sleeve 5. The up er surface of the flan ed portion of the b0 y is slightly depresse in the center, as shown at 6, the better to fit to the article to which it is attached in case of any irregularities on the under surface thereof. In the upper end of the sleeve'5 is a circular series or race of balls 7 which are maintained in their annular arrangement by means of a central boss or protuberance 8. These balls run upon a circular plate 9, which revolves freely within the tubular portion 5 of the caster, said plate -9 rev0lvin freely u on a circular series or race of ba ls 10, w ich in turn revolve upon the up er portion of the main ball 11. .Said bal is retained in place by spinning the lower edge of the tubular portion of the caster inwards or closely around said ball, as shown at 12.

In operation the weight of the article is ring of balls 7, the late 9 and the ring of balls 10. These bal s and plate always revolve and rotate freely, because there is no chance of their getting out of place, or looking. The plate 9 resting upon the ring of balls 10 maintains them always in position, and in like manner the ring of balls 7 is maintained in position by means of said plate 9 andthe centralboss or protuberance; hence the caster will at all times run freely and does not need a lubricant.

In Figs. 1', 2, 3, the caster is shown as attached to the article of furniture, or other article, by means of screws through the circular flange, this is not an essential part of the invention, as the caster may be secured in any other desired manner without departing from the spirit of the invention. Thus in Fig. 4 the upper part of the caster may be shown with a central socket 13 in which the rounded end of the leg fits; and in Fig. 5 it is shown with upstanding lips or lugs 14 which are secured to the sides of a square leg.

1. A caster provided with a main ball adapted to roll upon the ground, a ring of balls around the top of said main ball, a plate supported upon said ring of balls, a second ring of balls supported upon said plate, and a body inclosing said main ball, late, and rings of balls, and having a circu ar groove to confine the u per ring of balls in a circular path, the plate ein free to rotate between the two rlngs of ba ls, substantially as described.

2. A caster having a sleeve, a main ball fitting snugly within the sleeve, a ring of balls in the u per portion of the sleeve, a second ring of alls upon the main ball, and a plate freely movable between the two rings,

said plate and sleeve being conformed to nesses.

. ANNIE F. W. BOWEN. Witnesses:

F. M. WRIGHT, BEssIn GORFINKEL. 

